British prime minister Theresa May (L) speaks to the press as European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker greets her as they arrive on the first day of a summit of European Union (EU) leaders at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on March 22, 2018 | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

British prime minister Theresa May (L) speaks to the press as European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker greets her as they arrive on the first day of a summit of European Union (EU) leaders at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on March 22, 2018 | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

The EU27 leaders on Friday approved a Brexit transition period and guidelines for negotiations on a future relationship with the U.K. in just two minutes. And many of them now wish the U.K. would similarly speed things up, and just get the heck out already.

Gone are the days when officials in Brussels were secretly hoping the U.K. would somehow reverse course. Now, nearly a year after the start of talks, even some of Britain’s closest allies on the Continent, like the Netherlands and Luxembourg, are eager for Brexit to be over and done with.

The U.K. had created the momentum for the transition deal with series of swift U-turns on issues such as citizens’ rights and fisheries access that have infuriated some ardent supporters of Brexit in the U.K.

But the European Council’s swift approval of the guidelines — despite the absence of a clear solution for the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland — reflects both fatigue among officials eager to focus on the European Union’s own future, and a desire to be rid of U.K. perennial demands for special treatment.

“No, it’s not a red carpet, it’s like runway lights to show them the way” — EU diplomat

So rather than throwing up obstacles and putting pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, at a time of maximum leverage in the negotiations, the EU27 leaders on Friday continued a pattern of helping to carry Britain to the door.

“This is the second time that they were incapable of expressing what they want, and so we had to do the work for them, that they were supposed to do,” a senior EU diplomat said. The diplomat was referring to the conclusion of Phase 1 of the negotiations in December, in which the EU27 leaders declared “sufficient progress” despite a litany of outstanding disagreements on key divorce issues.

Another EU diplomat rejected the suggestion that the 27 had rolled out a red carpet to the exit. “No, it’s not a red carpet, it’s like runway lights,” the diplomat said, “to show them the way.”

To be sure, the EU27 are not entirely thrilled with how Brexit is shaping up. They would far prefer if May and her government had taken what Brussels views as an eminently more reasonable approach and agreed to remain inside the EU’s single market and customs union. The guidelines approved on Friday include a provision to emphasize that the U.K. would be more than welcome to change its mind.

One motivation for not making life too awkward for May was to avoid sending the U.K. hurtling off the so-called cliff edge, creating an economic calamity for everyone.

“The European Council is very risk-averse,” a senior official working on Brexit said. At a time when U.S. President Donald Trump and others are creating instability and mayhem, the EU has no appetite for further upheaval, officials said.

Brussels also believes that the U.K. has retreated, over and over again, on its toughest negotiating positions, and that further concessions — perhaps even a decision to remain in the customs union — are inevitable, largely because they are in Britain’s economic self-interest. U.K. officials say talk of a shift towards a customs union is for the birds.

But Brussels has also softened its tone: At the beginning of the talks there was the idea that London had to be punished for its decision, something similar to what occurred with Greece. Then French President François Hollande said that “there must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price. Otherwise we will be in a negotiation that cannot end well.”

Whereas now, said a Northern European diplomat, “nobody talks anymore about that, the pressure is only to finish it on time.”

While some critics on the Continent say the U.K. is getting off cheap, securing a 21-month transition deal, for instance, with not one cent of additional cost beyond what it would have paid had it remained a member, other officials in Brussels have not forgotten the loud proclamations at the start of the negotiations by some Brexiteers.

“We have the chance, now, to create a new dynamic in the talks” — British Prime Minister Theresa May

“Remember, they were saying they were going to leave without paying anything at all,” the senior official said.

British officials this week expressed increasing happiness with the outcome of the guidelines, and portions of the draft withdrawal treaty that have been agreed by the EU negotiator, Michel Barnier, and his British counterpart, David Davis.

Addressing her fellow EU leaders at the summit’s working dinner, May portrayed this week as a breakthrough moment that would change the mood of the talks to come.

“We have the chance, now, to create a new dynamic in the talks,” she said, according to prepared remarks briefed by Downing Street. The U.K. and the EU should, she added, “work together to explore workable solutions — in Northern Ireland, in our future security cooperation and in order to ensure the future prosperity of all our people. This is an opportunity, it is our duty to take and to enter into with energy and ambition.”

The ambition on the U.K. side is to secure a bespoke Brexit deal — one that maintains as many of the benefits of U.K.-EU trade as would be feasible outside the single market and the customs union. And they seem increasingly confident that they can achieve it.

On the Brussels side, there is still a bright red line when it comes to any attempt by the U.K. to cherry-pick EU benefits.

While the gap in expectation is not surprising, more unexpected is how the EU has effectively spent the last year helping the U.K. to the exit.

In December, when negotiators had failed to come up with any workable agreement on Ireland, and many issues related to citizens’ rights remained unresolved, Brussels could have refused to declare “sufficient progress” and delayed by months any talk of transition or the future relationship.

Instead, EU negotiators worked frantically through nights and weekends and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker joined May for a pre-dawn press conference to paper over many disagreements on the key divorce issues, and urged the Council to proclaim Phase 1 of the talks to be a success.

And now, with no agreement on Ireland and Spain raising fresh questions about Gibraltar, Barnier marked up a draft withdrawal treaty with green highlighter to signal to the 27 leaders that they should green-light both a 21-month transition period as well as the guidelines on the future relationship. It took just two minutes for leaders to do as he proposed — even though the key section on Northern Ireland stayed conspicuously white — color code for “unresolved.”

But the approval of the guidelines was just the start of the leaders’ discussion about Brexit on Friday. Over the next two hours, they talked about how to frame the political declaration that will accompany the formal withdrawal treaty. The U.K. wants that political declaration to be as specific as possible. In Brussels, the goal is to keep it broad and vague, leaving the details to the formal trade talks that will start after Brexit.

The senior EU official working on Brexit said there was still an even chance talks would collapse — something that the guidelines adopted Friday explicitly call on the Commission and member countries to prepare for, just in case. “We don’t want to be the ones accused of causing the cliff,” the official said. “But they may still go over it.”

Steuersklav Erei

These Politico articles are descending into parody. It defends as ’eminently sensible’ the Brussels view that the UK should remain within the EU customs union and single market.

Surely it can do better than this? Wouldn’t it also be ’eminently sensible’ for the UK to relinquish its annual rebate, too? Surely it would only be fair for the UK to pay even more into the EU seeing as it would no longer have any control over EU trade and regulatory policy (and yet be bound by them 100%). Also, wouldn’t it be ’eminently sensible’ for the UK to remain inside the Common Fisheries Policy? In that way the UK could continue paying the EU so that its fleets can keep fishing in UK waters?

Posted on 3/23/18 | 2:08 PM CEST

Stan

@Steuersklav Erei

You seem shocked everytime Politico release these type of articles. It’ll only get worse, by the end of it they will be the ones that voted us out. 🙂

Posted on 3/23/18 | 3:13 PM CEST

Ciapi N

Sad that the uk allowed Russia, trump and Cambridge analytica to commit suicide. Not sure why now that it is clearing up the brits don’t cry foul.

Posted on 3/23/18 | 3:25 PM CEST

cinc eur

@Ciapi

Google Translate much?

Posted on 3/23/18 | 3:41 PM CEST

Peter Monta

As the obnoxious bar patron is carried towards the exit by the bouncers he declares, hey I just want to finish my drink and maybe have one more for the road. Nope. Wait guys! I left my jacket inside with with my passporting and my cell phone. I just want to go back inside and get it! Nope.

Posted on 3/23/18 | 3:44 PM CEST

G U

Peter Monta

Not that apt really, as the bouncer metaphor ignores the fact that if fists flew, the bouncers would be on the floor and hurting too. 😉

Yellow Submarine

Dr Orthogonal

The fact that the EU are now begging for the UK to stay in the single market and the customs union is further evidence that leaving these bodies is very much in the UK’s interest.

Posted on 3/23/18 | 5:54 PM CEST

John C. O´Jones

Excellent article.

“The ambition on the U.K. side is to secure a bespoke Brexit deal — one that maintains as many of the benefits of U.K.-EU trade as would be feasible outside the single market and the customs union. And they seem increasingly confident that they can achieve it.”

Which is funny cause they didnt achieve anything so far.
ALL these useless brexitards can achieve is a Canada style agreement.
Period.
But it seems they are extremely dumb to understand it

Posted on 3/23/18 | 6:29 PM CEST

That's right

LOL

“begging”, “fist fight” etc…

What a band of morons…

Posted on 3/23/18 | 6:30 PM CEST

John C. O´Jones

“BREXIT WARNING: EU threatens May ANY attempt to trade with USA will be ‘UNACCEPTABLE’
THE EUROPEAN UNION has issued a stern warning to Britain that any attempt to strike a separate trade deal with Donald Trump’s America could scupper a EU-UK agreed.”

OOOPS!
LOL

Posted on 3/23/18 | 6:51 PM CEST

EUROPE Peace and Love

it’s impossible to write someting serious in this forum…. they is. almost no serious brexiters to debate with. only out of space la la land twisted cloud cuckoo land arguments all the time…. boring

Posted on 3/23/18 | 6:53 PM CEST

EUROPE Peace and Love

all serious debaters lost interest in this subject. case closed, next!

Posted on 3/23/18 | 6:59 PM CEST

EU doublestandards

@EUROPE Peace and Love

Nope, I’m still here and I’m as serious as anthrax. What was it you wanted to discuss dear?

Posted on 3/23/18 | 7:09 PM CEST

NeonLight ->

Like I’m saying from beginning.

Stop discussion about prolonging this suffering. Just get over with it. Its like bad divorce.
As soon as this is finished everybody can go separate way and start living as they wish.

Just trow out UK from 29.3.2019 and forget about them. We have too much work to do in our backyard.

And for “deal, no deal”. Just put borders on … and then we can talk about. It doesn’t matter who is responsible for any border that will come out of this. You can blame EU if you want. I don’t care. UK is blaming EU for everything. Add hard borders to list and goodbye.

Fast solution in next week – why wait 2 years?
UK can leave right now. We cannot throw out UK before 29.3.2019 but they can leave now.

What do UK wants from EU that needs additional 21 month?

Posted on 3/23/18 | 8:23 PM CEST

NeonLight ->

@Jack B

I see that you are still one liner. And still didn’t stop to insulting people. Grow up.

Posted on 3/23/18 | 10:30 PM CEST

Joke V

John C. O´Jones
the ‘bespoke’ deal will be as bespoke as you will be thrown out.
Can we just stop, please .uk leave us alone just as you wanted to? We showed you the exit …

Posted on 3/23/18 | 11:40 PM CEST

Joke V

@Yellow Submarine
why should you even bother?
please leave not asap but stat
kind regards
Joke

Posted on 3/23/18 | 11:44 PM CEST

Joke V

@Dr Orthogonal
I’m afraid you haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about.
But please carry on, carry on the good work
🙂
Is it half hot Mom ?

Posted on 3/24/18 | 12:27 AM CEST

Stiv Ocssor

EU leaders show UK the Brexit runway

Finally the EU have accepted we want to leave. Whether our current traitorous government will let us leave is another matter altogether.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 12:33 AM CEST

Stan

@EUROPE Peace and Love
“it’s impossible to write something serious in this forum…. they is. almost no serious brexiters to debate with. only out of space la la land twisted cloud cuckoo land arguments all the time…. boring”

Most people have gotten bored with hearing it and wandered off. Did myself for a while.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 2:26 AM CEST

Dr Orthogonal

@Joke V

No worries. Clearly you haven’t had the opportunity to think this issue through.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 8:23 AM CEST

Priscilla du Bleu

@Stiff Oscar = jack the saggy booty
“EU leaders show UK the Brexit runway
“Whether our current traitorous government will let us leave is another matter altogether.

Hello Priscilla ”

Good morning from the alps, booty, wonderful snow, bright sunshine, breathtaking scenery. Us is off for the weekend, skiing on the continent, as one does :-D. Well, unless one is poor lil ole WW2 vet you.

Don’t expect too much attention for the weekend, we have better things to do than educate the brit lower classes.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 9:20 AM CEST

Priscilla du Bleu

@NeonLight ->
“@Jack B

I see that you are still one liner. And still didn’t stop to insulting people. Grow up.”

Jeeeeez, Neon, mate, do have a heart and show some sympathy for the uneducated brit lower classes on dole. Oneliners, faecal language and insults are the best they can muster in the light of brexit turning out the disaster that it will be. What would you do if your cherryladen cakes in sunny uphills. located in glorious empire 2.0, one yer before you move there turned out to be a bedsitter in sunderland, with taters, cabbage, turnips and cod day-in, day-out, all the while your inept government made you a ruletaker and vassal for good to your archenemy EU, who will sigh an enormous sigh of relief one they have voted down in EU parliament any deal, so you will get their boot on march 29th, 2019.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 9:29 AM CEST

blue bell

@PdB
Prissy what are you doing here? I thought you would be out schussing with the locals – the visitors having departed to do other things.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 2:12 PM CEST

Priscilla du Bleu

@blue bell / periwinkle
“@PdB
Prissy what are you doing here? I thought you would be out schussing with the locals – the visitors having departed to do other things.”

Belly, we are having a break – and a late lunch. You know, what people do …. midday :-D. Greetings from the hiubbie as well, and a cousin and her hubbie.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 3:50 PM CEST

Donal O'Brien

Att Dr Orthogonal

The fact that the EU are begging for the UK to stay

Well said

Thats exactly what BBC correspondent in BRUSSEL KATY ADLER said from the information she was receiving from her sources inside the EU

She used the phrase they are scared stiff
About BRITAIN leaving the EU

They in BBC where very unhappy with ADLER for stating same

Cheers for Brexit

Allways
DONAL O BRIEN

Posted on 3/24/18 | 5:28 PM CEST

John C. O´Jones

@Joke V
“the ‘bespoke’ deal will be as bespoke as you will be thrown out.
Can we just stop, please .uk leave us alone just as you wanted to? We showed you the exit …”

But dear Joke…. It seems you think that I am another brexitard…
Question, then, is…Whats your level of comprehension or understanding, approximately, on a scale of 0 to 10?
– 1,000,000,000,000,000,000???

Posted on 3/24/18 | 7:24 PM CEST

Anthony Chambers

You can whinge all you like. Nothing will change the UK people’s love affair with Europe. We just don’t really like how democracy works for us in the EU. Luckily that ends soon.

Posted on 3/24/18 | 7:55 PM CEST

John Brown

“Now, nearly a year after the start of talks, even some of Britain’s closest allies on the Continent, like the Netherlands and Luxembourg, are eager for Brexit to be over and done with.”

This is also the view of the UK public as a recent poll by BMG for Change Britain has found an overwhelming majority are in favour of getting on with Brexit. 57% agree that “the government should get on with implementing the result of the referendum to take Britain out of the EU and in doing so take back control of our borders, laws, money and trade”. Just 22% disagree.

So why don’t both sides get on with it ?

Probably because the UK’s EU supporting elites who are still in control in the UK and the EU Commission are hoping that that in time or events will enable them to ignore the result.

Unfortunately for them the longer they wait the more the UK public will wake up to the undemocratic disaster that is the EU.

The UK and EU elites have not yet realised that the UK public voted to leave to regain their freedom and it was never a decision based upon economics.

Posted on 3/25/18 | 12:05 AM CEST

Boris Karloff

@Steuersklav Erei It’s comments such as yours which are descending into parody. Did you actually read the article? Politico defended nothing. The full sentence you are referring to is: “what Brussels views as an eminently more reasonable approach”. The clue is in “what Brussels views as”.

Posted on 3/25/18 | 12:10 AM CEST

Priscilla du Bleu

@The irosh Donal(d)
“Thats exactly what BBC correspondent in BRUSSEL KATY ADLER said from the information she was receiving from her sources inside the EU”

LOL: As if the EU bosses told the Tory/Brexit mouthpiece that the BBC is any internal real details. You couldn’t make this up. If she received any ‘interna’ from her ‘sources’ inside the EU, those gents most likely ran a bet among themselves if or if not Miss Adler would be foolish enough to blab the fake inside info into a microphone. I wonder what sums were in the jackpot. For once i would have loved to be a fly on the wall.

😀 😀 😀

Posted on 3/25/18 | 9:41 AM CEST

Priscilla du Bleu

@Reinhard
“Ireland has launched a stinging attack on the EU over its creeping tax harmonisation plan, an issue which threatens to drive a wedge between Dublin and Brussels during a key stage of Brexit talks.”

1. Oh my, you quote from the express (BTW, our resident blocked little saggy booty’s fav ‘reputable’ source to quote from without naming the source, for a good reason …. hm hmmmm). No other really reputable media is reporting in this manner :-D.

2. it’s not Ireland, it’s one single guy whose opinion is simply irrelevant in the entire process, should he really r´try to interfere, irish MEP Brian Hayes. He can feel free to vote against the deal in EP if he pleases.

So long for now, dearest Jack :-D.

Posted on 3/25/18 | 11:15 AM CEST

Perry Winkle

Juncker is all class.

Posted on 3/28/18 | 2:01 AM CEST

Perry Winkle

Great Britain and the USA brought freedom and stability to Europe. And don’t you forget it.